Stranded
by Jenny70529
Summary: A freak rainstorm. A stalled vehicle. Sandle.


_Disclaimer: Still not mine. _

_Author's Notes: Just a little random scene that I wrote awhile back and decided to finish today. As always, I'd love to hear what you think. _

_Jenny_

**Stranded:**

"Of course, the one day it's going to rain in this horrible city, we're going to have to go to a scene." Sara grumbled, slamming the seatbelt buckle into place, "It rains, what, five days a year? And where's everyone else? They're at the departmental social, enjoying an open bar and a night off."

"Seven." Greg muttered, turning the windshield wipers on high, "It rains an average of seven days per year."

"Thank you, Kevin Janison."Sara replied dryly, "I wasn't aware that you left the 11:00 news to become a CSI."

Shooting her a playful glare, Greg eased off of the gas pedal, squinting as he tried to see through the dense downpour that had taken the city by surprise. "We're going to get our entire year's worth of rain before we even get to the scene."

"Only if we're lucky." Sara responded sarcastically, "Maybe you should just pull over, wait for it to ease up some."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the rain began to pound harder, their car shaking with the tremendous force of the wind and rain.

"You were saying...?" Greg asked, unable to suppress a smile as she scowled. "Lighten up, Sara, it's not like our crime scene is outside or anything."

"Doesn't matter." Sara grumbled as Greg eased on the gas once more, "Turn at the next light and go the back way."

"Are you insane? I'm not going to risk my life going through the bad side of town when I can barely see which way I'm going. This road takes us straight to Tropicana." Greg replied.

Sara started to protest, but Greg cut in before she could form any words, "I'm driving, so we're going my way."

Sara exhaled loudly, flopping back against her seat, "Okay, Mr. Know-it-all, don't say I didn't warn you."

As the road drooped down over a small hill, Greg remembered why it was a bad idea to take this route in the rain. By this point, however, it was too late to correct his mistake. Careful not to make eye contact with a smirking Sara, he slowed, barely breathing as they began to drive through the flowing mess. Water sprayed off of both sides of the car as they trudged through the dark liquid, and halfway through he realized that his feet were growing damp.

Unfortunately, Sara realized at the same time, and her smirk turned into a scowl as she shot the other man a death glare. "Great idea, Greg. Let's go the short way. You're going to kill your car."

"Of all days not to run back to the lab before going to a scene." Greg grumbled, cursing loudly when his car started to sputter.

Sara looked over at the gauges, then down at Greg's feet, "Whatever you do, don't stop or we'll never make it out of here. Keep pressing the gas."

"I know how to drive in rain." Greg snapped, "It's too deep, I don't think we're going to make it."

No sooner had the words left his mouth, the car began to sputter, the dashboard buttons flickering before the car shut off completely. Pushing in his brake pedal and clutch, he tried to crank the engine twice before looking towards Sara with a defeated sigh, "What do we do?"

"What else? Push." Sara replied with a scowl, "We can't just sit here all night, now, can we?"

Greg opened his door, letting a loud string of curses escape as water poured in the opening, drenching his feet and legs before he could completely shut the door.

"Great idea, Sara." Greg said heatedly, jamming his fist into the steering wheel, "No Wet-Vac in the world will fix this mess."

"I was going to suggest, Mr. Impatient, that we crawl out the window so you don't do anymore water damage to your car. Although, by the smoke coming out of the hood, I can pretty well guess that you fried your engine."

"Optimistic much?" Greg snapped, rolling down his window, "Ready to do this?"

"Put your car in neutral." Sara suggested, rolling down her own window, "I didn't know manufacturers still made crank roll windows." She paused, shaking her head, "If you're scared of getting wet, I can push while you steer."

Greg raised an eyebrow, "Right, because it's so common for a girl to push the car while the boyfriend steers. Slide over and I'll push."

"Actually," Sara replied, glancing down into the deep water, "We are arguing for nothing--there's no way either of us can do this alone with the currents in this flood."

Greg stared down into the black water, a frown crossing his face, "Should we even get out of the car in water like this?"

"Well, we could just sit here and wait for Superman to come rescue us." Sara replied sarcastically, "No other idiot would come this way in a storm this bad. No one's going to help us. We need to get at least out of the water and somewhere where our cell phones have signals."

"Then we can call for help." Greg said quietly with a nod, earning him another scowl from Sara. "What? I'm getting really sick of your attitude."

"Well, I'm not too fond of yours." Sara snapped, "If you're going to act like that, you can push your car yourself."

Greg's eyes narrowed as she spoke, and grabbing a hold of the top of his car, he sat in the open window, "I don't really want to be around you anyway."

Both were silent as Greg made his way through knee deep water to the back of his car, leaning into it but not even budging the vehicle. He tried for a few minutes before sighing heavily, calling out, "I need your help."

"Thought you didn't want me around?" Sara smirked as she easily climbed out the window, "Didn't need my help?"

"Do you want to walk home?"

"I may have to."

Greg leaned against the car, grunting as he used all of his force to try and move it. He wiped rain from his face, turning to look at Sara, who was drenched from head to toe. As they began to push once more, he started to laugh, starting quietly and intensifying until he was barely able to catch his breath, leaning his head down on the trunk as his shoulder shook with laughter.

"What's so funny?" Sara asked, a smile tugging at her lips. "Greg, this isn't the time--"

"You're soaking wet. I'm soaking wet. The car's soaking wet. We aren't going anywhere."Greg shrieked, laughing so hard he could barely catch his breath, "We're not going to get to the crime scene. And we're out here arguing like some old married couple."

Despite her irritation, or perhaps because of it, Sara started to laugh as well, covering her mouth with her hand as she tried to stifle herself. If anyone did happen to pass by, they would definitely think that both were certifiably insane. Catching her breath, Sara turned to lean against the car, "Okay, let's push."

"One, two, three." Greg huffed, straining to budge the car through the murky water. After a few failed attempts, he paused, taking a few deep breaths, "This isn't working."

Sara leaned into the car once more, groaning loudly as the car budged forward slightly, only to roll back farther than where they had began. Kicking Greg's tire, Sara let out a loud scream of frustration. Stomping her foot angrily, she turned to Greg, her eyes blazing, "This is all your fault!"

"Don't remind me." Greg muttered, leaning his head back and letting the rain fall onto his face, "This is my _car_ we're talking about Sara! My ruined car!"

Sara's anger softened slightly, and she managed to give Greg a sympathetic smile, "You have insurance, right?"

"Yeah, but still doesn't make it any better." Greg muttered, "What do we do?"

Sara motioned towards the shoulder of the road, "Start walking, that's all we can do."

With a silent nod, Greg looking sadly at the car before jogging to meet Sara, who was already starting to walk along the edge of the road. It was going to be one of those nights that they could classify under, "Worst night ever". Trudging through the flooded streets, they could only hope that they wouldn't have to travel too far before their cell phone signal returned so someone could come and get them out of this mess.

They had traveled nearly half a mile when Sara shivered slightly, wrapping her arms tightly around her body to keep warm as a gust of wind shook her small frame. She looked up with a smile as Greg wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close to him as they continued to travel.

"I'm glad I was working with you." Sara murmured softly, "Can you imagine Grissom out here in this mess? Or Catherine?"

Greg laughed, "Do you honestly think I'd have my arm this tightly around Grissom?"

"I'd hope not." Sara replied with a smile, shivering slightly once more.

Greg looked down upon her, concerned, as she shivered a third time, "Are you okay?"

"Cold and wet." Sara replied, squinting as the rain intensified, "Seriously, though, what are the chances of this happening to us, here?"

Greg pushed a wet strand of hair from her face, his fingertips lingering on her cheek as he murmured, "One in a million."

Sara leaned forward slightly to savor his touch, her eyes closing briefly as warmth tingled through her freezing limbs. When she opened her eyes again, she was pleasantly surprised to see Greg's lips moving towards her own. And as lightning filled the sky, thunder roaring in the distance, their lips met.

Both pulled away slightly after a few moments, Sara's eyes wide as a smile crept onto her lips to match Greg's slight grin and pink cheeks. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him back in for another, moaning softly as he ran his fingers along her back, hungrily taking what she had to offer. They broke apart once more, and Greg whispered softly, "Want to head back to the car?"

**The End.**


End file.
